Political Notebook: Oct. 29

Wednesday

Oct 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMOct 29, 2008 at 8:08 PM

Political briefs box with Number to Know, Fact Check and Quotes from the Candidates.

Number to Know

8: Number of presidents who have died in office (natural deaths and assassinations). They are William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

Fact Check: Obama and 9/11

An upstart group calling itself the "National Republican Trust PAC" mixes a pile of false claims and the image of 9/11 mastermind Mohammed Atta to create one of the sleaziest false TV ads of the campaign.

- The spot falsely claims Barack Obama has a "plan" to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. In fact, Obama has said quite specifically, "I am not proposing that that's what we do."

- The ad implies such licenses would enable terrorist attacks. In fact, Atta wouldn't have needed one to carry out his attacks.